It Started With A Gift
by Sweedledome
Summary: You never know who's going to become someone important in your life. Who's going to affect you. Sometimes you can pinpoint a certain moment in time that things shift and that person because something more than what they once were. For Aubrey Posen that moment was the moment she was presented with a gift. One shot. Mitchsen.


_**Mitchsen one shot for you all, if you're currently reading my other story 'If Music Be The Food Of Love', I swear I'm getting to that but life is being all difficult and hectic and this story has been sitting unfinished on my computer for ages because I couldn't think of an ending so when I did, I thought it was best write it down before I forgot.**_

It Started With A Gift

It's hard to pinpoint the moment someone becomes significant to you. Not just someone who you'll lose contact with and who will eventually fade into the back ground of your life. Most of the time you suddenly find yourself caring about that person in a way you didn't know was possible but sometime…just sometimes you're able to recall a singular moment. A moment where you realise that person is more than just the average friend to you and things grow from there. For Aubrey Posen, it was the gift. That was the moment that began to define her relationship with Beca as something significant.

Aubrey Posen had a very specific mind view on gifts. She believed that, while generic chocolates, spa days, flowers etc, were all very nice and indicated a certain amount of affection or desire to please the intended recipient, they didn't really demonstrate any level of effort to make said intended recipient feel truly special. Aubrey Posen seemed like the kind of girl who would like a fancy gilded card with a dozen red roses and a 24 hour 'total bliss treatment' at a fancy spa but truthfully, anyone could receive that and feel happy. It indicated no real knowledge of the person's likes or dislikes.

Which is why a plummeting sense of disappointment struck her when that was exactly what she received on her birthday from her boyfriend of over a year. Sure, it was nice, the roses looked beautiful sitting in that vase on her and Chloe's shared kitchen table, the card was filled with sweet words about the joy of having met someone like Aubrey (a certain midget had scoffed loudly at that) and the spa day left Aubrey feeling so chilled out that she didn't yell at anyone for three days straight. It was all very nice and sweet and...generic. He could've given it to Chloe and achieved the same result, though admittedly there would probably be a lot more squealing involved.

There was also the way Andrew had presented it with a flourish in full view of all the Bellas and her other friends at the party Chloe had thrown for her. He then spent the rest of the evening being told how sweet and thoughtful he was, Aubrey was sure Andrew hadn't meant for the gift to be a showboating tactic but nevertheless it subjected Aubrey to constant reminders of "he's a real catch that one, don't want to let him go" which made Aubrey feel like she was some man grabbing harpy.

Aubrey wanted someone who gave Aubrey a gift _for Aubrey_. That would mean something to _her_ and no one else. Which is why she was thoroughly surprised when Beca dragged her silently moping butt into the kitchen towards the end of the evening when most of the guests had dispersed and it was just the Bellas and a very awkward looking Andrew floating around in the living room, the former slurring their way through a cd called "greatest hits of the 80's"...no wonder Beca had wanted to get out of here.

_"Beca, what are you doing?"_ Aubrey had questioned, puzzled by the way Beca appeared to have hovered outside the toilet in an attempt to catch her alone. Her question was answered as Beca, very intent on avoiding eye contact, thrust her arms forward toward Aubrey to reveal a thin rectangular package covered in what appeared to be "It's A Boy!" wrapping paper with a little pen marked annotations all over the repeated phrase, turning it into "It's AuBoy!s birthday" instead.

Aubrey honestly wasn't expecting anything from Beca. They had grown a lot closer in the rush to prepare their set for finals and since had taken to indulging in the occasional hang out but...Aubrey felt like Beca wasn't the type of person who really _did _birthday presents. Certainly not for someone like Aubrey. Smiling softly as the obviously awkward girl in front of her jerked her arms in a clear motion for Aubrey to take it, Aubrey reached forward for the gift, allowing herself a small chuckle at the crude editing on the wrapping paper.

_"Really Beca? I didn't know I was expecting."_

_"Shut up. I've been at my mum's house the past couple of weeks and that was all she had. I tried to make it better."_

_"Well it's certainly unique."_ Aubrey laughed as she delicately removed the wrapping paper, not wanting to damage it. She was oddly touched by the suggestion that Beca felt she was worth more effort than just leaving her limited resources the way they were, that Beca had actually considered her opinion...that was certainly a novel feeling after the repeated one of frustration every time they butted heads over the set list for finals. As the wrapping paper peeled away she was greeted by the sight of what was clearly a children's book called "Can't You Sleep Little Bear?" Aubrey looked at Beca, puzzled.

_"When we worked together you mentioned you had trouble sleeping and...uh...I used to have trouble sleeping when I was a kid so my dad read me that book. Even after he left that book made me feel...safe somehow. I dunno, I still read it sometimes now when I can't sleep and it just...makes me happy I guess. You also said that your parents never read you children's books and...yeah...I loved this one more than anything so I figured it's be a good one to start with...this was a stupid idea wasn't it? I'm sorry, I'll get you something prop-oomph!"_

Aubrey had cut Beca off with a very tight hug. Maybe it was weird, they'd never done hugging before but Aubrey had never received a gift like this before either. The closest had been Chloe who was always mindful to get something Aubrey related, but this...this was something else. This was _personal. _Beca was sharing a piece of herself in the hope that Aubrey would like it. This gift was _for _Aubrey and _from_ Beca. Slowly Beca's hesitant arms came round to gently grip Aubrey in what was possibly the most satisfying hug of her life. Aubrey couldn't help but notice that Beca smelt good...like really good. There wasn't any particular scent to it, it was just good and the warmth of Beca's arms around her midriff made her feel safe.

Removing her arms from around Beca before she started doing some weird creepy hair smelling thing, Aubrey felt her eyes start to well up as she gripped Beca's hand and whispered a soft 'thank you'. The smile that spread across Beca's face was possibly the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. It wasn't the usual little smirky half smile thing that traditionally graced Beca's features, it was the full blown one, the one that said she was too happy to give a damn about her bad ass persona.

Last time Aubrey had seen that smile, they were on a stage with an entire audience screaming their name. They wandered back to the living room, pausing to deposit the book in Aubrey's room before settling themselves back in with their fellow Bellas and a very nervous Andrew who was eyeing Lily with some trepidation as she flicked a zippo lid open and closed with a smile.

Eventually the evening ended and everyone said goodbye, including a confused looking Andrew who assumed that he would be staying the night. Truth be told, Aubrey had thought he would be too, but the desire to peruse Beca's present gripped her more than she care to admit and so it was that Andrew was left with a kiss on the cheek and the promise of a coffee tomorrow.

Settling down in bed with a soft blanket and a warm mug of hot chocolate, Aubrey ran her hands softly over the book before opening in slowly. Aubrey's eyes widened as she examined the smudged, wonky, hideously misspelt "becah Mitchell. Donot tuch!" marked in a lovely purple pen on the inside cover. This wasn't just a copy of the book Beca loved, this was _the_ book. Now that Aubrey examined it more closely, she could see the frayed edges, the folded over corners and the obvious level of wear and tear to the thing that could only be explained by years of opening and closing.

Aubrey swore to herself in that moment that she would never treat a book with so much respect as she did the one she currently held, and Aubrey treated books with more respect than could really be considered healthy under normal circumstances.

Looking back on it years later, Aubrey would say that was the day she began to fall in love with Beca and everything she was, even if she didn't know it at the time. She knew something was different, but she didn't know what. Things did change after that day between Beca and Aubrey anyway, regardless of Aubrey's false diagnostics of these new feelings as 'friendship'. It started with a coffee date initiated by Aubrey who wanted to thank Beca again. She had been truly touched by the story, it did make her feel safe and gave her the best night's sleep she had in years.

She had never held any particular resentment toward her parents for not indulging her with children's books, they had seemed pointless and trivial to Aubrey, but now she was struck with a deep feeling of loss that she had missed out on having someone read it to her. She could only imagine how it must feel to love someone the way little bear loved big bear. Then she was crushed as she realised that Beca did have someone like that, someone who left. With that in mind, Aubrey was a lot more understanding of Beca and her hesitancy to show serious emotion.

Neither of them was really sure how this coffee date was going to go without their usual mandatory Chloe for any and all social occasions but both of them were pleasantly surprised with the result. So one coffee date became two, then three...then another and another till it was a regular thing, much to the delight of Chloe who could now happily hang out with both her best friends without them snapping at each other every five minutes. They still kept strictly to coffee dates though, neither willing to admit that they might want to spend more time with each other than their usual couple of hours a week in the local café.

What Aubrey couldn't understand was why, a few months later, she was nothing short of ecstatic at the news the Jesse and Beca had broken up. She should be sad shouldn't she? Her friend was hurting and, having got to know Jesse pretty well since he was glued to Beca's side every moment he could after Finals, she had to admit that Jesse was an above average guy. He did really care about Beca and she could see that he made her happy...so why was she relishing the news as she headed over to Beca's with the doughnuts Beca seemed to be able to polish off in epic quantities when she was upset.

Aubrey took in a deep breath as she reached Beca's. They had become good friends, yes, but uninvited room trips were definitely something they didn't do. They were coffee shop buddies. That was their thing. Still...Beca was hurting and didn't appear to be leaving the room for coffee at all so drastic measures had to be taken. A glum looking Beca opened the door when Aubrey knocked, wordlessly reaching for the doughnuts in Aubrey's hands. Half an hour and one of the most impressive eating displays Aubrey had ever seen later, Beca began to talk. They settled on her bed with Aubrey sitting on the inside edge next to the wall and Beca slumped on her front, resting on her elbows and looking up at Aubrey.

_"He's a good guy...a great guy actually, but he's not...he's not __**my**__ great guy. Does that make sense?" Aubrey's raised eyebrow indicated to Beca that this was not going to be sufficient explanation. "It's just...when we got together, we both agreed after Finals that something wasn't right with us. We didn't know what but it just wasn't the epic romance we thought it'd be. It wasn't horrific either though, it was actually...nice to have someone there. Someone to call when we were happy or sad or bored or whatever. So...we went with it, it was easy but it wasn't everything we thought it'd be."_

_"What changed then?"_

_"We're graduating this year. I'm going to LA and Jesse's got that internship in New York. We were never going to be that couple that lasts long distance, too much effort involved and neither of us like the idea of tying each other down when there could be someone better out there for us. _

_"But there's still a year left for you guys to be together?"_

_"We wanted to get back to being friends before we left so we wouldn't lose each other completely with the move. It's going to take some time to get to being friends again but if we're friends when we go, we stand a better chance of staying in contact than if we're ex's...does __**that**__ make sense?"_

_"In an odd way...it kind of does. So what are you guys doing now?" Beca removed her elbows and collapsed down completely onto her front and turned her head away so she was gazing across her room._

_"Stay away from each other for a couple of months, get used to not being around each other. Then we're going to try hanging out as friends again, see how that goes." Aubrey noticed the depression in Beca's voice though. The quiet cry for help of a girl who wasn't sure what to do with herself. Plucking the object she'd had a feeling she might need out of her bag, she quietly flipped open to the first page and began speaking in a soft voice._

_"Once there were two bears, Big Bear and Little Bear…" Beca didn't say anything, she just rolled over and snuggled into Aubrey's midriff as Aubrey's soothing tones took her into the world written on the pages in front of her._

It didn't take them as long as they thought it would it turned out, they'd been together a while but neither of them had really committed to the relationship. As Beca took delight in informing a spluttering, red faced Aubrey , hanging out was pretty much exactly the same 'just without the constant banging...nah, wasn't really that constant but I do miss getting some action, might have to take a page out of Chloe's book you know what I mean?" The wink that accompanied this statement left Aubrey in no doubt about what it was that Beca meant. She just wished her mind didn't insist on reiterating the point with overly graphic visuals.

About a month after Jesse and Beca's friendship reunion, Aubrey was enjoying a nice meal out with Andrew...well, she was trying to, it'd certainly be a lot easier if Beca's voice didn't keep echoing through her head "_He's a good guy...a great guy actually, but he's not...he's not __**my**__ great guy". _It kept playing and playing and playing in her head, before she knew it she was walking away from a distraught looking Andrew. Andrew really was charming and sweet, motivated and driven, approved of by her parents and willing to take the time to be patient knowing she got stressed by things.

That alone was almost enough to want to continue in the easy, steady system they had been in for a couple of years now, but Aubrey didn't because she wasn't sad. Not for the relationship at any rate, she was sad for Andrew, she hadn't meant to hurt him, but she was just...relieved by this new turn of events. When Aubrey hesitantly agreed to Beca's suggestion about six months later, she knew exactly why she and Andrew could never have worked. It was simple, it was because he wasn't Beca.

When the news broke Aubrey received all kinds of condolences from friends and the like but nothing from Beca. Beca's reaction was far more to Aubrey's liking. Beca never was much good with words but Beca's hugs were something else. They were rarely given and only to a select few but those who did receive them knew that a hug from Beca was perfect because she used it to say the things words never could. Really Aubrey should have broken off the hug sooner but she was a glutton for punishment and dammit if Beca still didn't smell _really_ good.

She didn't the notice the way Chloe's eyes narrowed as she saw her two best friends and for the first time truly _saw_ what was happening between them. Aubrey and Beca noticed after that day that whenever Beca came over to hang out, Chloe would mysteriously have to run an errand, leaving the two of them alone with Chloe's ever present iPod now blasting out love ballads. 'Kiss the girl' seemed to be a particular favourite. Once Aubrey had convinced Beca that smashing Chloe's iPod/speaker set with a hammer wasn't a good use of their time, they actually grew more and more comfortable with each other, they were no longer just 'coffee buddies' but truly great friends...or at least they were till that fated Thursday on a January afternoon.

Aubrey had received a low grade on an essay she had spent the better part of a month obsessing over, she hadn't slept well in ages because of said essay, she'd dropped her books everywhere and watched as everyone walked by, trampling her pristine, perfectly formatted notes with their muddy wet shoes. To top it all off, it was raining. Heavily. Her nice warm winter coat had disappeared earlier this week, taken to some unknown realm by the thing known as the washing machine and, as she began the long slog back to her and Chloe's apartment, she regretted deciding to battle on even though she had actually felt quite ill with a cold this morning. A cold that was now getting significantly worse and caused her head to pound with a vengeance.

"Bree?" And there she was, looking like the very image of perfection, sheltered from the down pour by a heavy duty umbrella bigger than she was. Beca surveyed Aubrey for a few seconds then without a word moved the umbrella over her head, took Aubrey's hand and began directing her towards Beca's own dorm which was far closer. She gave Aubrey towels and gently steered her to the bathroom where Aubrey let the steaming hot shower shake away any remnants of cold still clinging to her bones. She had been convinced she would never be warm again but the hot water was doing its work and she stayed there till it ran out. She absent mindedly trundled back to Beca's dorm where Beca greeted her with some very warm looking trackies, a pajama top and a ridiculously over the top looking hot chocolate. Seriously, it even had the tiny little marshmallows wedges into every available gap of the whipped cream.

Too tired to even think straight anymore, Aubrey dropped the towel and began working her way into the clothes Beca had given her. She failed to notice Beca's stare or the sudden blush that hit her cheeks as she hurried to grab Aubrey's wet clothes and mumbled something about putting them in the dryer as she left the room. When she returned, taking care to check that Aubrey was indeed fully clothed, Beca dried Aubrey's hair gently with the hair dryer, chastising her for already having got Beca's pillow wet with her hair.

As Beca's fingers raked through her hair and over her scalp, Aubrey shivered at the contact of the smaller girl. Really she should have stopped Beca and done the job herself but when Beca's nails dragged over Aubrey's scalp _just_ so...Aubrey was pretty sure she was in heaven at the moment. Finally Beca deemed her sufficiently dry and let her crawl under the covers, still slightly delirious from lack of sleep, Aubrey grabbed Beca's wrist and dragged her down beside herself. Chuckling slightly, Beca wrapped her arms around Aubrey who snuggled into the embrace, treating Beca like a giant teddy bear, as Beca's melodic tones reached Aubrey's ears.

_"Cause you had a bad day_  
_You're taking one down_  
_You sing a sad song just to turn it around..."_

Aubrey smiled and lightly swatted Beca's arms as the brunette smiled at the surprisingly cute blonde wrapped in her arms. This was rapidly turning into one of the best days Aubrey had ever had and it was all thanks to an overly sarcastic midget with a penchant for plaid who had recognised in the moment that she saw a bedraggled Aubrey making her way across the quad that Aubrey just needed someone to take care of her. Maybe it was wrong of Aubrey to be enjoying this so much but, for a short while, she had Beca…and she was too weak to stop herself from loving every minute of it and every minute of Beca.

_"Once there were two bears, Big Bear and Little Bear" _Beca's soft and steady voice echoed out into the room.

Puzzled, Aubrey looked up at Beca.

_"But...you don't have the book?"_

_"Uh...no...I just...know it."_ Beca's awkward confession reminded Aubrey just how much she loved that book and left her awash with a warm glow of affection for the girl currently holding her close.

Settling back into the warm body beside her, Aubrey drifted off to the sounds of Beca softly whispering the story into Aubrey's ear. Her last thought as she slipped out of consciousness was that she was now undoubtedly in love with one Beca Mitchell.

After that, Aubrey found it difficult not to be completely and utterly smitten with everything Beca did. Even the aggravating way she kept poking Aubrey when she got bored during a movie. She tried to reason with herself, tell herself that she was simply wanting what she could not have, that she had disliked the girl once before and she could do it again...but she couldn't. Try as she might, Aubrey couldn't stop loving Beca and regularly had to put some space between the two whenever her feelings started to overwhelm her lest she do something stupid like kiss the living daylights out the girl. This was perhaps, why she panicked and reacted badly to Beca's casually delivered proposal as the year began to draw to a close.

_"NO."_ Beca looked up from where she had just been doodling on a bit of paper to Aubrey like she had just been slapped. Then came a look of hurt and rejection that made Aubrey's insides do funny things.

_"Jeez Aubrey, if you didn't want to you could have just said so. You don't need to be so repulsed by the idea."_  
_  
__"Beca...I didn't mean...it's just..."__"It's okay, you don't want to move in with me I get it. I don't see why though...your job offer isn't too far from the flat I found and seeing as we're both going to be in LA next year I just thought...you know what...never mind, it was stupid of me."_ Aubrey watched as a dejected Beca slouched off. She wanted to call after her and make things right but she couldn't do that without agreeing to move in with her or explain why she couldn't.

Somehow Aubrey doubted that "because it's already hard enough trying to restrain myself from pinning you to any available surface so I can have my way with you when we're not in close proximity 24/7" would make things right between them again. She just couldn't, not when Beca had a tendency to be everything Aubrey wanted all the time, living with Beca would surely shatter the last of Aubrey's self-control and then she would be stuck living with the girl she loved never quite meeting her eyes or avoiding ever being alone with Aubrey in a room for more than five seconds. Posen's were tough and they could deal with a lot of things...but not that.

Beca didn't bring it up again but Aubrey could sense the depression radiating from the other girl and it hurt. It actually physically ached to watch Beca withdraw into herself with each passing day that they ignored the unspoken dispute between them. She didn't pressure Aubrey and she didn't speak about it again but Aubrey knew every time Beca said she should probably go home instead of staying over like usual, that the girl was trying to distance herself. Eventually Aubrey couldn't take it anymore. She was hurting Beca and she couldn't take it. As Aubrey revoiced Beca's thoughts about living together she watched Beca's expression carefully relax in a way it hadn't done since Aubrey had rejected her initial proposition.

_"Really?"_

"_Yes Beca."_

"…you're not just doing this to make me feel better are you?"

"_No, I want to live with you, I was just worried about finances before."_ _Thankful that Beca didn't question her blatant lie, Aubrey sat on the sofa next to the object of her affections, reveling in the way Beca opened her arms for Aubrey to settle into. Something she hadn't done since Aubrey had said 'no'._

Moving in rolled around quicker than Aubrey had anticipated and it seemed like no time had passed before she was unloading boxes from the van into her and Beca's new place. Her and Beca's place. She couldn't stop the smile that crept on to her face at the thought. She similarly couldn't stop the smile gracing her face as Beca playfully stole the last box from her and ran away with it, insisting that she was going to be the one who moved in the final bit of their stuff.

"_Are you ever going to tell her?" _Aubrey started as she quite forgot Chloe's presence.

"_Tell her what?"_

"_Bree, we've been best friend since we were four years old. Do you think I honestly don't see what's going on here?" Looking into Chloe's worried eyes, Aubrey sighed and turned to look wistfully after the door the DJ had disappeared through. She wasn't capable of lying to Chloe, it was just something they didn't do. They didn't keep secrets._

"_I can't Chloe, I need her. I can't let it destroy our friendship."_

"_Has it ever occurred to you she feels the same way?"_

"_She doesn't."_

"_How do you know?"_

"_She's straight."_

"_Has she ever explicitly said so?"_

"…_no."_

"_The Aubrey Posen I know deals in facts. Why have you suddenly started assuming things?"_

"_I have to."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because if I let myself believe, if only for a second, that it could happen, then I won't be able to stop myself."_

"_And why is that a bad thing?" Before Aubrey could reply, Beca reappeared and the question was left unanswered, it stayed where it was in the back of Aubrey's mind, niggling away at her self-control._

Living with Beca was difficult because it wasn't. They worked well together. Yes, Beca needed Aubrey to constantly nag her about doing her work and Beca needed to constantly remind Aubrey that they place didn't need to be absolutely pristine all the time, there were minor disputes about living standards and not making proper use of the coasters but, all things considered, they were perfect house mates for each other.

So perfect that sometimes Aubrey was left to cry quietly to herself in bed that Beca had peeled off to go sleep in her own room, in her own bed instead of joining Aubrey the way Aubrey wished she would. There was also the fact that Beca tended to be late for work a lot which resulted in her running about the place in her underwear to fish her clothes out of the washing machine. This was not conducive to Aubrey's 'stop thinking about what it would feel like to trace the outline of that tattoo with your tongue' plan.

When the Bellas all came to visit for a reunion type shin dig, Aubrey should have known the bottle of tequila Amy was happily brandishing was not a good idea. Nevertheless, she went with it and watched as the evening went from slightly out of focus, to everything being hazy, to a blur of undistinguished colour, to just complete blackout.

When she woke the next morning to that churning feeling in her stomach that left her unsure whether she was ravenously hungry or about to throw up, she knew that she had possibly had a little too much to drink. That thought was confirmed when she noticed the brunette sleeping soundly next to her. A quick peek under the sheets validated that said brunette was indeed naked…well, a quick peek and a bit of staring/admiring, Aubrey was only human after all.

Desperately racking her brain, Aubrey failed to come up with any sort of explanation as to how this might have happened. She failed. Fearing Beca's potential freak out when she woke up, Aubrey quietly removed herself from the bed, located her clothes and snuck back to her own room.

The week progressed and Aubrey watched carefully for any sign of acknowledgement of what had occurred coming from Beca, but there was none. They spent the week taking the Bellas out and showing them the sights so there was never a moment the two could be alone together but Beca's easy and laid back attitude had Aubrey convinced that Beca did not remember anything from that night. So she relaxed and let herself enjoy the company of the outrageous girls she had missed so much.

Chloe still gave her hinting looks every now and then when Beca's attention was diverted but Aubrey brushed it off, not wanting to deal with all that right now, not with the images of Beca's naked body imprinted so fiercely in her mind and knowing that one look was all she was going to get. It killed her that something had happened and she didn't remember. There were no memories of that night beyond a certain point. Still, life went on and her mind was preoccupied with the Bellas imminent departure so she was able to ignore that pang in her chest that she got whenever she looked at the small DJ.

Maybe that was why she was so shocked by Beca's words as they quietly moved around the kitchen together, preparing dinner for just the two of them now the Bellas were en route back to their homes.

"_Are we going to talk about that night at all?"_ Aubrey froze, her knife half way through the action of chopping a carrot, to meet steely blue eyes looking at her intently. Noting Aubrey's slightly queasy look, Beca carefully moved her to the sink and poured a glass of water for her. Rubbing soothing circles on Aubrey's back till she calmed down, Beca waited in silence for Aubrey's reply.

"_I…I thought you didn't remember…"_

"_I do."_ Aubrey took her eyes off the sink in front of her and turned around to meet Beca's gaze once more. Staring carefully into that beautiful face, Aubrey was unable to glean any information about how Beca felt from her face. Aubrey found herself at a complete loss of words. For the first time in her life, there was nothing she could say, no words to fix the situation. All she could do was think about how close Beca was, how little distance there was between their faces…

Looking into the younger woman's eyes, Aubrey saw the first trace of emotion play out on Beca's face. Nervous. Beca was nervous. Aubrey didn't completely understand why until the quiet words came from Beca's mouth.

"_You can stop me…if you want."_ Then, moving at a glacial pace, Aubrey stood still as Beca slowly leaned in. Beca's soft lips hesitantly met hers and the world stopped. The burning in her chest was almost too much to deal with as she reciprocated, adding a little more pressure to the kiss than before. Mouths parted. Tongues met. Aubrey couldn't help the moan that came from her throat as Beca slid her tongue against Aubrey's own. Obviously that caused something inside Beca to snap. Her hands gripped firmly at Aubrey's waist as Aubrey's own came up to tangle in her hair.

Kissing desperately now, Aubrey became aware of a heavy pulsating between her legs that only grew as Beca moved away from her mouth and began planting kisses down her neck. The jolt of heat that ran through her system as Beca found her pulse point and sucked almost had Aubrey collapsing on the floor. Clothes. There were too many.

Gripping the collar of Beca's shirt, Aubrey dragged her through to her room where she pushed Beca on to the bed. Any other time Beca might have made a smart comment about Aubrey being domineering but right now all she could focus on was the heavy look of lust in Aubrey's eyes. Seeing the brunette laid ready and waiting on her bed, Aubrey straddled Beca and frantically reattached their mouths.

Hand moving quickly undid the buttons on Beca's shirt, faltering only slightly as Beca ran her own hands up Aubrey's legs, bunching her skirt around her waist. Once Beca had been divested of her shirt Aubrey leaned back and to take off her own when halting hands stopped her. Looking at her with a fearful expression, Beca quietly asked "are you sure?"

Aubrey's response was to simply remove her own shirt and bra in one fluid motion. Beca stared silently at her for a moment and then Aubrey was on her back with Beca tracing a blazing path of kisses down her body.

And so it was that, for the second time, Aubrey woke next to a naked brunette…except this time she remembered everything. Every glorious little detail of Beca's naked body moving in tandem with her own. Silently grabbing her clothes, Aubrey moved through to the kitchen and began putting breakfast together, waiting for Beca to wake so she could find out what last night was. It seemed like only a few minutes later when a sleepy voice called out behind her.

_"That's the second time you've left the morning after Posen." _Watching Beca, who was still sporting some very impressive sex hair, move to their small kitchen table where Aubrey had placed her breakfast, Aubrey felt the worry kick back in. Now what? Silence descended upon the kitchen as Beca munched her way through a slice of toast and Aubrey sat down opposite her. As Beca swallowed the last bite, Aubrey felt her breath catch in her throat. This was going to be a defining moment for them, a moment that would change the course of friendship forever and all Aubrey could think about was how beautiful Beca looked in the morning light with that lightly dazed expression that remained on her face until she had her usual morning coffee….well, that and that maybe she had gotten a little carried away last night if the size of the hickey she had given Beca somewhere around the third time was anything to go by.

"_I love you."_ Aubrey honestly didn't even realise she'd spoken until Beca's head snapped up. There's no way she could retract that, Aubrey figured it was best to forge ahead. _"Sorry if that's not what you were looking for or if last night was just some stress relief for you but I can no longer ignore this. I love you and last night was quite possibly the best night of my life."_ Beca blinked mutely at her for a moment then collapsed forward onto the table, unable to hold herself up with the laughs wracking her body. Deep regret settled into Aubrey as she watched the smaller girl try to contain herself. Desperately trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to break free, Aubrey stood to leave the kitchen. She had to get out of here.

"_Bree. Bree wait!"_ and then Beca was in front of her, holding her back and refusing to let her leave.

"_Get out of my way Beca."_

"_No."_

"_Damn it Beca, I said get out of my way!"_

"_No, you need to listen to me."_

"_I don't want to hear it, I understand you don't feel the same way but you don't have to be so hurtful about it. This isn't a joke Beca, those are my feelings and I won't sit here and have you make fun of me for them, especially not after the night we just had."_

"_Bree, look at me."_ Refusing to meet Beca's eyes, Aubrey simply folded her arms and waited for the DJ to move. _"Bree…Aubrey, I was laughing because I find the idea that you don't know how completely 100% in love with you I am laughable."_ Aubrey froze. _"Bree…please can you look at me?"_ No movement. _"It's extremely important to me that you acknowledge this interaction_." A gentle hand cupped her face and turned it so she could look into Beca's hauntingly gorgeous eyes. Aubrey saw nothing but truth there.

"_You love me?"_

"_Uh huh."_ Silence from Aubrey as she still tried to puzzle out Beca's words. _"Look, I thought you at least knew I was interested in you, I didn't see how anyone couldn't. That's why I thought you didn't want to move in with me at first, because it made you uncomfortable. I spent so long looking for even the slightest possibility of you liking me back, even just a hint of interest but anytime I thought I maybe saw something you'd go and do something like refusing to move in with me. Then you just come out with 'I love you'? I had to laugh, I had to laugh because you acted like it was the most obvious thing in the world but it really wasn't. The first sign I got was last week when you spilled that tequila on my shirt and insisted I needed to remove all my clothes to get properly clean."_

"_I did that?"_

"_Yes…then you said you felt bad that I was the only naked one so you got naked too…then you kissed me."_

"…_oh."_

"_Yeah…then you fell asleep on me."_

"_You mean we didn't…?"_

"_Nope, someone was too busy snoring."_

"_I don't snore Mitchell."_

"_You do when you're drunk."_

"_So…you didn't know how I feel about you?"_

"_Not a clue."_

"…_how?"_

"_What?"_

"_I tried to hide it but I thought I failed miserably."_

"_Aubrey…in case you hadn't noticed, you're kind of hard to figure out. It's like trying to solve a rubix cube."_

"_Cute metaphor."_

"_While blindfolded."_

"_Seriously?"_

"_With your teeth."_

"_I get it."_

"_With deafening music playing."_

"_You can stop now."_

"_While Amy pokes you with a stick."_

"_Shut up."_

"_Make me." _So Aubrey did. Possibly not in the way Beca expected but as her shirt was haphazardly flung across the kitchen, Aubrey figured she wouldn't really care.

"Mummy!" Snapping back to the present, Aubrey smiled at the little boy currently snuggled into her right side while his sister looked up at her with wide eyes from her left.

"Sorry darling, what did you say?"

"How did you fall in love with mama?" Aubrey smiled as she traced the outline of the now extremely worn down book that had made it through the years to the day she and Beca got to read it to their own children.

"Well, it started with a gift…this book actually…"

_**So…that's that finished. Phew, that was long. In case you guys are wondering "Can't You Sleep Little Bear" is an actual childrens book that was my favourite as a kid and the starting inspiration for this story. Found it recently when I was doing some sorting which made me unbelievably happy. The song Beca sings to Aubrey when she's having a bad day is "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter.**_


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